While certainly not exclusively, athletes often get accused of being superstitious. We’ve probably heard about the practices some engage in (regardless of the sport in question): wearing a specific hat or shirt, putting the right shoe on first, listening to a particular song, and on and on. There is seemingly no limit to the little rituals that often accompany sporting events by those who participate in them or even by those who are spectators.

But again, this is not limited to sporting events or athletes.

Are these examples of superstition? And are superstitious practices sinful? The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists “superstition” as one potential violation of the First Commandment. It defines it as: “the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes” (CCC 2111).

This definition can be a little difficult to understand. Essentially it is describing a situation where a person becomes convinced that doing (or not doing) certain things a certain way has the power to affect a particular outcome.

So, do activities like those mentioned above entail superstition? Possibly. It would depend on the significance a person attaches to their performance. Is it a routine someone has simply grown comfortable with and therefore repeats? Or is it one that someone feels must be done for a favorable outcome?  

Notice the danger is primarily in the power believed to be contained in the activity. Some rituals, in and of themselves, really have no power to determine particular outcomes.

If an athlete always listens to the same song before a game, but fails to listen to it before a game that is ultimately lost, it is not the failure to listen that causes the loss. The loss is likely caused by poor performance or a superior opponent — either way, things which directly pertain to the activity.

Superstition, on the other hand, believes that activities not directly, nor even logically, connected do have some impact on an outcome.  An athlete who believes that failing to listen to a song caused a loss, is guilty of superstition.  The question really becomes a matter of cause and effect.  

Superstition can be sinful under the First Commandment because it begins to view activities in and of themselves as having power that God never gave them.

While this can be morally problematic when it comes to things like sporting events, this is especially important when it comes to our religious practices. This is where superstitions can be a true obstacle in our relationship with God. And it is an area that even very faithful people must be careful of, lest they drift into it at times.

Even good religious practices can take on a superstitious element because of how they are approached. For example, even prayer can be done in a superstitious manner. I begin to believe that the completion of my prayers itself, or saying a particular prayer has power to force God’s hand. I believe that “if I just say this prayer nothing bad will happen.” Or that “if I don’t say this prayer something bad will happen.”

I begin to pray in such a manner that the act of prayer itself seems to be the goal, rather than being connected to God. The act of praying can almost become more of a priority than the One I’m praying to.

Likewise, we can approach other religious practices in a similar manner, from making the Sign of the Cross to our participation in the sacraments. If we’re not careful, we begin to do these things not out of faith in God, but in a belief in the power of the action itself, thus supplanting God and His power with the things that are meant to connect us to Him.

If we are concerned about superstition creeping into our lives we need only ask ourselves the question: “where is the power from? The completion of an activity or from God?”